The real Chen Xuanrong thus settled down in the Ning family.

Aside from Ning Yao, Hua Yan made no attempt to hide her disgust the moment she saw Chen Xuanrong.

"What are you doing here? Who allowed you to come in? Why aren't you bothering your brother Lin anymore?"

Hua Yan thought her harsh words would enrage the other party, but to her surprise, the other party acted completely according to common sense.

Chen Xuanrong curtsied in greeting, showing no reaction whatsoever to his words.

Ning Yao explained simply, "This is not the one next to Jiang Shilin. That one is an imposter. This one is the real legitimate daughter of the Chen family."

"Look at his overall demeanor and manners. Can anyone around Jiang Shilin compare to him?"

Hua Yan blurted out, "So exciting? Is it a real or fake heiress?"

Ning Yao rolled her eyes at him: "What's so exciting about that? Speak properly."

Hua Yan rubbed her chin and nodded in agreement: "This one looks much better than the other one, but why aren't you saying anything?"

Chen Xuanrong continued to smile faintly and remain silent.

Ning Yao said, "Her voice was injured by that imposter, and she can't speak for the time being. She'll be fine once I heal her."

Hearing this, Hua Yan's eyes showed sympathy: "Tsk, how pitiful, being bullied like this by an imposter, not only did she hurt her voice, but she also had her fiancé stolen..."

Ning Yao raised her hand and slapped him: "Would it kill you to say less? Why do you always rub salt in people's wounds?"

Hua Yan winced in pain and rubbed her arm.

Chen Xuanrong smiled and shook her head, indicating that it was okay.

Ning Yao clicked her tongue: "He doesn't know how to cherish women at all!"

"Xuanrong, let's go! Let's stay here first, and then I'll check your voice."

Watching the two figures leave, Hua Yan frowned: "Don't I know how to cherish a woman?"

—

Inside Licheng at night.

Jiang Shilin felt uncomfortable ever since he saw Chen Xuanrong being obsequious on the street that day.

That scene was deeply imprinted in his mind, and he couldn't shake it off.

Even in her dreams, she dreamed of Chen Xuanrong, or rather, Chen Xuanrong's illegitimate daughter, Chen Jingrong.

"Xuanrong...Xuanrong...Chen Jingrong! Let her go! You're not allowed to hurt her!"

Jiang Shilin suddenly opened his eyes, looking as if he had been pulled out of the water.

There was still a hint of fear in his eyes.

“Xuanrong…”

He had that dream again, in which Chen Xuanrong was mistaken for Chen Jingrong and was wantonly bullied and beaten by the old women of the Chen family.

They didn't give her food or water, and in winter they couldn't keep her warm, so she was shivering from the cold.

"Brother Lin, where are you? Help Xuanrong, Xuanrong is in so much pain!"

He wanted to go over and protect him, but was stopped by the people around him.

"Brother Lin, I'm here! Are you trying to help your half-sister?"

Turning around, Chen Xuanrong nestled close to her again, telling her that the one being bullied was Chen Jingrong.

He turned to look at the woman in the corner, but he couldn't believe it; it must be his Xuanrong.

But a voice kept reminding him, "That's Chen Jingrong! That's Chen Jingrong!"

Just as he was wandering around Jiangnan, a tremendous force pulled him away, and he was later awakened.

He couldn't imagine what would happen if Chen Xuanrong were really humiliated like that.

But then I thought, Chen Xuanrong has always been by my side, how could she be bullied like that?

Even so, he would absolutely not allow it!

In May, Licheng is no longer cold.

I don't know if it's because of the long drought or something else, but the weather was still quite warm at night.

Jiang Shilin got up, put on his coat, and planned to go and see Chen Xuanrong.

The dream felt so real that it made him uneasy.

The house we live in now is also rented; it only has one main entrance and a few side rooms.

So after walking a few steps, they arrived at Chen Xuanrong's door.

Surprisingly, the lights in the room were still on, but not very brightly, as if only a candle was lit, and there were faint voices inside.

This made Jiang Shilin feel very strange.

He subconsciously moved closer and then heard some strange words.

"I can only be the legitimate daughter of the Chen family. Don't even think about taking my place!"

"Brother Lin has only ever loved you. How dare you, a mere illegitimate daughter, try to replace me?"

The voice inside was indeed Chen Xuanrong's, but her words sounded very strange.

What does it mean that a concubine's daughter wants to replace her?

Jiang Shilin's thoughts raced, and the dream he had just had instantly flooded his mind.

The more he thought about it, the more unsettled and panicked he became.

What exactly happened?

He wanted to knock on the door and ask for clarification, but reason told him he couldn't.

After much hesitation, Jiang Shilin decided to withdraw his hand and return to his room.

The next morning, when Jiang Shilin saw Chen Xuanrong again, he did not notice anything amiss on her face.

It's as if the person with the menacing tone from last night was just my imagination.

Did you not sleep well last night?

Chen Xuanrong was taken aback, and asked with an unnatural expression, "What's wrong, Brother Lin?"

Jiang Shilin pointed to her face: "The dark circles under your eyes are quite severe. Have you not been getting enough rest?"

Chen Xuanrong subconsciously touched her eyes, then pretended to be distressed and began to complain: "This house is too small, I can't rest well. I miss the days when I lived in Lingyue. Brother Lin, when can we move to a bigger house?"

Jiang Shilin twitched the corner of his mouth, his tone carrying a perfunctory tone that he himself was unaware of: "Soon!"

Chen Xuanrong didn't pay attention; she only noticed Jiang Shilin's words and knew that she was about to move into a big house.

—

After a period of unremitting efforts, all the land around the Ning family's house has been planted.

Even the cotton seeds taken away after June 1st were specially allocated to be planted on several hundred acres of land.

Some of the things they grow are unfamiliar even to the farmers.

The host simply told us to plant them, so we planted them all.

On the day the work in the fields was finished, Licheng was once again blessed with timely rain.

Inside Qinyao Pavilion, Liu Zi was reporting the results to Ning Yao, his abacus clicking away.

"A total of more than 8,000 mu of land was sown and planted with various crops, which took 25 days and involved more than 500 long-term workers and more than 2,000 short-term workers."

"The wages for short-term workers totaled over 1,000 taels, and the wages for both short-term and long-term workers consumed over 60,000 catties of grain. The wages for long-term workers have not yet been settled because they are paid monthly and it has not been a month yet."

Ning Yao asked, "How much is the wage? Have you calculated it yet?"

Liu Zi replied, "I've calculated it. It's 625 coins per person."

Ning Yao thought for a moment and then decided, "If everyone contributes 800 coins, we'll distribute them in the next few days."

"That's not right, Miss. Even if it's a full moon celebration, it's only 750 coins. You've overstated it by 50 coins."

Ning Yao smiled and said, "It's nothing. Consider the fifty coins a reward for them, as a way of thanking them for choosing to trust the Ning family!"

Liu Zi grinned and said, "Third Miss is so kind! I thank you on their behalf!"

Ning Yao waved her hand and placed down a five-tael silver ingot.

"You've worked hard these past few days, this is a reward for you."

Liu Zi smiled broadly, "Thank you, Third Miss!"